Social networking risky for companies
According to a recent study, the use of social networks is risky for companies. Malware and phishing attacks are the most common problems on Facebook. On Twitter, the ease of spamming is becoming a huge problem: anyone can create an account, follow thousands of people who will follow them in return, and send messages with malicious URLs. The study also highlights the difficulty of managing a Corporate account under LinkedIn, primarily because the people who belong to such groups do not necessarily work for the company, which can lead to confidentiality problems. To protect themselves against these hazards, Forrester recommends implementing a social networking use policy, which includes training employees and defining usage parameters.
Swiss salary disparity tracking software proves itself
User companies are apparently satisfied with Swiss software Logib, released in 2006 by the Bureau fédéral de l’égalité entre femmes et hommes (BFEG), according to an April 21 article in the daily Le Temps. Designed to fight salary discrimination, Logib performs statistical regression analysis, taking into account various factors including qualifications, position and age. Novartis, which has 12,000 employees in Switzerland, carried out its first analyses in 2004, revising some 900 female employees’ salaries upward and using the software for regular controls ever since.
British Equality Act passes
In early April, the British parliament passed the Equality Act, which combines existing anti-discrimination legislation into a single equality act. The act will come into effect in October, and requires large organizations to reveal gender pay disparities, which employers fear could fuel an increase in the number of claims brought to tribunals. Employment tribunals are expected to hear up to 370,000 new claims over the next three years, or an increase of 46% vs. previous years. According to discrimination specialists, the government is extending the positive-action regime with the act.
Companies lagging behind in communicating via social networks
An Aon Consulting Canada study done in early April revealed that employers are lagging behind when it comes to adopting social networks as a way of communicating with their employees. According to the study, only 31% of 80 respondents had implemented a social media policy. E-mail remains the most popular method of communicating (80%), followed by the Internet (7%), phone (7%) and intranet (5%). Intranets are the most common method of communicating HR and organizational information (58%), with print material second at 18%.
LinkedIn now has over two million users in Canada
Business networking site LinkedIn has announced that it has passed the two-million member mark in Canada. Thousands of Canadians are joining every day, and many large firms including KPMG, Research In Motion and Royal Bank use it as part of their recruiting and loyalty strategies. Since Canada is one of the network’s fastest-growing markets, the company has decided to open an office in Toronto and to hire a Country Manager. LinkedIn is also completing its mobile offering; already accessible on iPhone, the network launched its application for BlackBerry in late March.Created in 2003, LinkedIn now has more than 60 million users worldwide.
Fewer employees interested in RRSPs
Based on a recent Statistics Canada poll, just over 8.9 million Canadian tax filers contributed to a private retirement savings plan in 2008, about half of all tax filers. The poll also revealed that the proportion of employed filers who contributed to a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) was 34% in the same year, vs. 41% in 1997. At the same time, the proportion of employed tax filers who participated in an employer-sponsored pension plan remained stable at 32%.
Employees disregard laptop security measures
According to a poll conducted in late February by research firm Ponemon Institute for Absolute Software, which specializes in data protection and secure computer management, employees do not pay attention to securing their laptops and the data they contain. In Canada, 52% of managers polled said they had disabled the encryption solution on their laptops, and 54% admitted to sometimes or often leaving their laptop with a stranger when travelling.
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Recession enhances employee loyalty
According to a survey by Kelly Services, the workforce solutions provider, the recession has generated significant engagement by employees in their company. The survey of 134,00 people around the world, including 15,000 in Canada, was conducted from October 2009 to the end of January 2010. Thirty per cent of employees said the recession made them feel more loyal towards their employer, while 8% said they felt less loyal and 62% said it made no difference.
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Self-employment up
Self-employment rose substantially during the recent economic downturn, according to a study published in late March by Statistics Canada. Between October 2008 and 2009, it increased by 4.3%, while at the same time, paid employment decreased by 3.3%. The agency says that layoffs do not entirely account for this phenomenon, since the characteristics of the people who lost their jobs were not the same as those who became self-employed. While 28% of laid-off employees worked in manufacturing, much of the self-employment was in the service sector. The increase was mainly concentrated in workers at least 55 years of age and over, with women accounting for most of it (58%).